FederalNewsRadio.com - Purpose of Comments statement Click to show

Hubbard Radio, LLC encourages site users to express their opinions by posting comments. Our goal is to maintain a civil dialogue in which readers feel comfortable. At times, the comment boards following articles, blog posts and other content can descend to personal attacks. Please do not engage in such behavior here. We encourage your thoughtful comments which:

Have a positive and constructive tone

Are on topic, clear and to-the-point

Are respectful toward others and their opinions

Hubbard Radio, LLC reserves the right to remove comments which do not conform to these criteria.

You are reading comments on the story:

The Veterans' Affairs Committee is turning up its oversight heat after Veterans Affairs officials "stonewalled" their questions. Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) said there are 66 outstanding questions on conference spending that the committee has been waiting for answers from VA since August. VA pushed back saying it has responded as quickly and as accurately as possible.

Maybe Mr. Miller would be better to look into the payments to employees, clearly guilty of fraud, waste, and abuse, that are not only still on the payroll but received a payment from the Federal Government for compensation for 'illegal' investigation and attempted termination. Perhaps he should look into IT spending of duplication systems, licenses, and contractors covering tasks that are already supposed to be done by FTEs. A million no bid for a consultant is business as usual at the VA. Just read the IG reports. You will not wonder why FTEs have a bad reputation.

Whether or not the money spent in Iraq and Afghanistan was and is wise is a legitimate topic for debate, but not in this context. The appropriations process used to allocate funds for the two wars was open, contentious, and highly pubicized in nature. The VA, on the other hand, like GSA and other agencies before it, engaged in covertly promoting extremely unwise and poorly planned conferences with prudent oversight of the public fisc obviouisly being the last concern of senior VA officials. It's clear that senior career Federal managers are often not up to the job of ensuring that appropriated moneys are conserved and providing close overisght of such initiatives. The stonewalling described would indicate that VA's senior managers have circled the wagons, and really haven't accepted responsibility for their egregious actions. A few have been figuratively thrown off the troika to the congressional wolves, but the rest of those repsonsible have yet to be held accountable.

The only ones, congressional reps that don't represent, 'fired up' are the ones who will once again seek cutting the VA budget, as they continue to do and did in the 112th, as they carry their attacks on the decades long underfunded, especially this past decade, Veterans Administration, as they also seek to privatize not only this agency, the Peoples Responsibility,, but all government agencies. As it was pointed out in the hearing, what they totally ignore, that businesses and corporations the size of the VA have even worse, and many more, problems then in this case money spent foolishly on an otherwise needed gathering of Veterans officials and workers that are trying to finally build the Agency that always should have been. They also made fools of themselves as they condemned the Agency and their words showed they think they themselves are above also being condemned for the waste they perpetuate constantly within the halls of the peoples houses and outside of for their benefits!
The whole hearing, as have been most especially when done under tepub control was pure hubris of blatant arrogance on their part!!
And the press carries that further as they jump in to support our wars of choice and the rubber stamped costs but then play nothing, like these reps, in Demanding the Country Should Sacrifice for the cost of the wars and the results from, not a dime has been paid for these, deficits had already started rising rapidly Before 9/11 are are still added to daily!!
How About This for Supporting the Troops: What Always Should Have Been, Citizens Sacrifice!!
No Revenues {especially from the wealthy nor their private reagan capitalism economic investments, free market supply side capitalism} = No Sacrifice = No Support = DeJa-Vu all over again!!
USN All Shore '67-'71 GMG3 Vietnam In Country '70-'71